Media

In a victory for voting rights, a decision issued September 7, 2011 by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley has denied certification to a proposed ballot initiative that would impose restrictive requirements for photo ID in Massachusetts elections.

The decision rests on Article 9 of the Massachusetts Constitution, which guarantees “the freedom of elections.”   The certification ruling likens the ID requirement to a poll tax because the proposed law makes no provision for qualified voters to obtain state-issued identification without paying a fee.

Why is the flooding caused by Hurricane Irene an emergency worth spending federal money on, while the jobs crisis caused by the financial crash does not merit a response?

With unemployment above 9 percent, creating more jobs is an urgent priority for the United States. But it is difficult to have a sensible debate on how to spark job growth given the myths and misinformation that surround this issue. Specifically, many political leaders and analysts wrongly point to three culprits in explaining weak job growth: government regulations, the new healthcare law, and taxes. None of these explanations hold up under closer scrutiny.

Regulation Isn’t Stopping Job Growth

On Thursday, President Obama will deliver a major speech on America's employment crisis. But too often, what is lost in the call for job creation is a clear idea of what jobs we want to create.

The number of food stamp recipients is likely to hit a new high of 46 million when the Department of Agriculture releases its latest report on the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) -- that's over 18 percent of American households. This should drive conservatives through the roof.

Distinguished Senior Fellow Bob Herbert took to MSNBC yesterday evening to talk about the unemployment crisis and discuss what the President needs to do to enable job creation. 

Herbert wrote in these pages yesterday as part of Demos' America Can Work Better week. 

By most accounts, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has done an excellent job in response to Hurricane  Irene, even drawing praise from Bob McDonnell, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, and Chris Christie.